Calcium in young age could reduce risk of osteoporosis

27/01/05 New research on calcium and bone development suggests that efforts to prevent osteoporosis, generally considered a geriatric disease among women, could actually start before puberty.

In the study at The Ohio State University Medical Center, which is the first clinical trial to track calcium’s effects on bone density in girls age 8-13 for as long as seven years, researchers found that calcium supplementation significantly increased bone mass development during a critical childhood growth spurt.

The findings suggest that elevated calcium use by pre-adolescent girls is likely to help prevent fractures and osteoporosis much later in life, said Dr. Velimir Matkovic, lead author of the study and director of the Osteoporosis Prevention and Treatment Center and the Bone and Mineral Metabolism Laboratory at OSU Medical Center.

The research is published in the January issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition and the Journal of Nutrition.

Matkovic pioneered research on the concept of calcium’s relationship to peak bone mass in the 1970s, when he documented differing fracture rates among populations that consumed contrasting levels of dairy products over their lifetime. His initial study, based in Croatia, is cited in “Bone Health and Osteoporosis,” a report of the U.S. Surgeon General associated with the federal declaration that 2002-2011 is the Decade of the Bone and Joint.

In patients with osteoporosis, the natural cycle of losing and adding minerals in healthy bone falls out of balance and the loss outpaces the gain, leading to low bone mass, structural deterioration of bone tissue, fragility and an increased susceptibility to fractures of the hip, spine and wrist. An estimated 30 million American women either have or are at risk for osteoporosis.

Though the risk of losing bone mass is part of aging, having the strongest skeleton possible as a youngster can tip the balance toward better bone health in later years, Matkovic said. The study also suggested that in addition to long-term benefits to women, high calcium intake during childhood shows signs of preventing bone fragility fractures in girls.

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/509426/